December 19, 2016

Airplane reading.

This morning, the movers came by and took all of our stuff from the old house and moved the unending stream of boxes into the new house. In a few hours, I’m driving to the airport and getting on a plane to head out west for the holidays.

Unpacking will have to wait until the new year.

If you’re heading on an airplane sometime soon, or are just looking for some good things to read over the holidays, here’s a quick list of some of the best things I’ve read over the past two weeks. I’ll be using my upcoming flight to make my way through my ever-growing Instapaper queue.

Moving Stars
“The Obamas are the rare First Family to leave the White House stronger than when they arrived—never victims, even when hatefully victimized.”

They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals’
Gruesome images and stories of the carnage being done by President Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines.

On Optimism and Despair
Zadie Smith, in her acceptance speech of the Welt Literature Prize, had some poignant things to say about the promise and failings of heterogenous societies.

Pivot
A beautiful rumination on tradition, coming to terms with who we are, and our journeys in life.

The Dangerous Myth That Hillary Clinton Ignored the Working Class
Not sure how the narrative got shifted and the facts got ignored, but Mrs. Clinton had the most comprehensive economic plan of everyone running in the election.

Now Is the Time to Talk About What We Are Actually Talking About
The way we talk about the election, and about the current political climate, has been obfuscating the real issues. Let’s change that.

Notes from the Resistance: A Column on Language and Power
Another good piece about how words can be weaponized and used against us.

Water Protectors
Part of the reason we find it so hard to empathize with those who fight for clean water is because we take access to water for granted.

The real reasons the U.S. became less racist toward Asian Americans
Geopolitics has a lot to do with the way we are all perceived right now. That’s not going to change anytime soon.

The driverless car delusion
Driverless cars aren’t going to cure congestion; investing in better transit and urban planning is even more important.

The problem with Maryam Monsef’s contempt for metrics
By making mathematics the domain of nerds”, the Minister pushed evidence-based policy-making back a few years.

52 things I learned in 2016
Some things you knew, some things you didn’t. All fascinating.

Stranger Than Friendship
Your spouse doesn’t have to be your best friend—they serve a different, just as important, purpose and role. 

How Vancouver got half of its citizens out of their cars: 50 percent of trips are taken on foot, bike, or transit.

A documentary about the TR-808? Sign me up.